


Magical Mirror

by PrincessXenia



Category: Original Work
Genre: Based on a Vocaloid Song, Bittersweet Ending, But it gets better I promise, Depression, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Magic, Magical World, Original Character(s), Other: See Story Notes, POV Third Person, POV Third Person Omniscient, References to Depression, Romance if you squint, and ffxiv?? in a way, magical objects, possible a trilogy in the future? idk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:20:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23425408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessXenia/pseuds/PrincessXenia
Summary: A young woman works at her aunt's magic shop after a series of events happen. When she enters the storage attic, she comes across a mirror, changing her life forever...
Relationships: Original Character(s) & Original Character(s)
Kudos: 2





	Magical Mirror

“Caroline, could you please go put these boxes in the attic?” Caroline looked up from her distant stare at the counter in front of her to look at her boss-- an eccentric older lady who always wore bright dresses and plenty of jewelry that made noise at almost every moment she made. “I had a surprise shipment of emerald herbs and I certainly don’t need them now, so they’ll be fine up there for the time being.” A small chuckle escaped her lips. “Besides, it seems you need something to do.”

“So you say, but we’ve hardly had a customer all day,” motioning to the shop around her. Potions and various magical trinkets scattered the shelves, save for some more generic items such as boxes of tea and fiction books, things that the older lady insisted on keeping in her shop. ‘Not everyone is into the arcane of a magic shop,’ Caroline recalled her saying when she had asked.

The older lady simply smiled. “Ah, well, slow days happen from time to time.” Lifting the stacked boxes, she held it out to Caroline. “Now, are you going to take up my offer or not?”

“...Of course, Aunt June.” Caroline moved out from behind the counter and took from the boxes, her arms having to adjust for the sudden weight, but nothing she couldn’t manage. Emerald herbs were a lot heavier than she had expected…! As she turned around and took a few steps forward, she realized something and turned back around. With a weak smile on her face: “Where’s the attic?”

June laughed. “I was wondering when you’d ask that.” As she walked towards the back of the store, Caroline followed. On one of the bookshelves, she pulled a decorative book near the right-hand side outwards, and the door opened ever so slowly. June only looked back at Caroline’s awed face for a moment before proceeding further in, down a hallway with a few doors coming off of it.

“What’s inside these rooms?”

“Where do you suppose I live? I’ve always dreamed of owning and living in a magic shop… though I suppose I’ll admit the situation isn’t completely ideal.” It was true, the hallway wasn’t very large. June would probably be able to get past Caroline without too much difficulty, but it was really built for one person and only one person at a time. 

They finally reached the back of the hall where June pulled down the steps to the attic, and stepped to the side so Caroline could go up them. As she began to climb, she distantly heard the front doorbell chime. Of course. June spoke up shortly after. “Oops, that’s my cue, just come back when you’re finished!” Caroline continued up the steps, hearing June scamper away back to the shop and hearing a distant welcome as her head peeked up over the floorboards. 

The attic was nothing special. Boxes here, crates there, personal effects deep in the corner… it was what Caroline expected of a storage room. She placed the boxes on top of another pile of boxes and brushed her hands off on her attire. Done and done. As she walked back without a second thought, a voice suddenly called out from beside her.

“Ah, excuse me…?”

Caroline instinctively turned her head towards the source of the noise, suddenly noticing a mirror on the wall… and in it, was a figure in a long, hooded cloak, the hood’s shade so cartoonishly covering their face except for their mouth.

Suddenly, Caroline lost her footing and fell backward onto the floorboards. The figure’s mouth gaped slightly in concern. “Are you alright? I didn’t mean to scare you.” 

“Well, of course, you scared me, this is Miss June’s secret storage attic or whatever! Did she, what, trap you in this mirror?!” Caroline knew June wasn’t that kind of person, but nonetheless it was the first thing that popped into her head.

“No, no, of course not!” They took a few steps away from the mirror, showcasing only what Caroline could figure was some type of study. There was an edge of a desk on one side of the mirror and a bookshelf on the other. “I am, uhm… well, simply reflecting my world into yours.”

“...So you say.” Caroline stood up, once again brushing her hands, despite the lack of much dust or dirt. “But why are you doing such a thing?”

“I found a spell that would allow me to peek into another world, so I wanted to try it out… I could hear voices ever so muffled, but I never actually thought anyone would come up here!”

“Miss June wanted me to put these boxes up here… so I guess it’s your lucky day.” She glanced towards the doorway. “I should probably head back to work.”

“If it isn’t too much trouble, you should come visit me from time to time. I get rather lonely in this study of mine.” The hooded figure extends their hand, though aware she cannot shake it. “You may call me M. I am a mage studying at the Mage Academia. May I have your name, miss…?”

Reluctantly, she replies. “Caroline… and I suppose I’m a bit lonely myself, so I’ll humor you. I’ll come and visit you on my lunch break tomorrow.”

They place their hand back at their side. “Miss Caroline. I shall see you tomorrow, then. If I am not present, simply call out to me and I shall be around. Until then.”

Magic whipped and swirled around in the mirror, obscuring their image until only her reflection stared back at her. Caroline sighed and headed back towards the store, faintly still hearing a conversation between June and a customer. Before she pushed the bookcase door open, she looked up at the closed attic door one last time. Why did M’s voice sound so familiar…?

The next day she did return, taking her lunch up there with her and calling out to them when she arrived. "I’m back, M.”

As her shoes touched the floorboards, she could see the magic appear and disappear, showing the M’s hooded self again. “Ah, so you did return.”

“A promise is a promise,” she responded, picking up a spare blanket nearby and placing it in front of the mirror. “Though I guess I really didn’t promise anything.”

“It’s been on my mind since we last talked… what do you do for a living?” M picked up something from out of view, then their hand returned with a teacup and saucer. They take a sip of every so often.

“I just work in this magic shop my aunt owns. It’s a nice and stable job, I guess. A lot of people don’t believe in the wonders of magic anymore.”

“Huh?” This seems to catch them off guard, much to her surprise. “And why is that? Magic is a wonderful gift!”

“...There was an incident involving an old magical tower this expedition team I was a part of was exploring. It let out some type of magical ripple that ended up killing a lot of people in the towns around it. They locked up the tower and a lot of places started disregarding magic, even to the point some leaders even banned it.”

“I’m… I’m so sorry to hear that.” Caroline wasn’t so sure why they sounded so sad, but maybe they were just overly sympathetic. They were a believer in the useful side of magic just like she and June were. “Magic practically thrives here, so I can hardly imagine a world with as little magic as possible…”

Caroline looked down at her food, avoiding what little eye contact she could give them. “Mm, it’s fine. We get by, the shop still makes enough money to function properly and everything and people are always inventing workarounds to magic. It’s fine.”

“It’s not fine. I can tell.” Caroline looked up at M, their face looking rather… angry? Did magic really matter to them that much? “You never even smile, and you always sound downcast when you talk.”

Caroline stared at them, awed. June tried her best to make her smile, but... she rarely smiled these days, it was true. Genuinely anyways. She always made sure to smile for customers. “...I guess you’re right. I’m sorry. That expedition was… it was really exciting… but… once we triggered that deadly magic… it killed a lot of my friends and family.”

“I see…” M took another sip of their tea before continuing. “I suppose such an event would be traumatic to anyone.” They paused, staring down at their tea for a moment before looking back at her. “Whatever it takes, Caroline, I will make you smile.”

Caroline stared at them long and hard. Such a statement seemed absurd from a complete stranger who refused to even reveal their name beyond what she assumed was an alias. But it was so genuine, so real. They wanted to help her be happy again. 

“...Promise?” They should’ve well knew she didn’t take promises lightly.

...But the words uttered from their lips made her return the next day. “I promise you.”

And the next, and the next after that. Because they did keep their promise. Because they did make her smile. They showed her things she’d never seen before. Magic spells that were like parlor tricks. Stories, both fictional and true, that interested and excited her. Soon enough, June did catch on to Caroline’s sudden lunch break in the storage attic, but upon hearing the lively conversation, the smile when she caught her on the way down, and the sudden pep in the way she spoke… she didn’t stop her nor ask further.

Because she was finally happy.

Caroline returned yet another day while she was on shift, humming as she headed upstairs with her lunch to see her newfound friend. When she reached the top of the stairs, she called out to them. “M, I’ve returned!”

The usual magic appeared and disappeared in the mirror, but M’s usual cheerful smile wasn’t there. They looked upset… and even reached under their hood to wipe at their face.

“...M?”

“I’m sorry... I only wanted to make you happy… but now I must…” Tears streamed down their face. They tried to compose themselves. “I can’t see you anymore, Caroline.”

Caroline could feel the anxiety bubble up inside of her. “Why not? Why can’t you?”

“I wasn’t supposed to see you in the first place. The elder mages who reside over me told me I couldn’t… yet I did it anyway, and now they threaten my place here at the Mage Academia. Even now I’m breaking their command… but I had to see you one last time.”

“...So you have.” She sat down on the blanket that still resided there after all this time. “So, we’ll just have to make it count, then!”

“No, Caroline, listen. There’s something… there’s something I have to admit to you.” 

The hood that had stricken her as odd all this time finally came off, revealing the face of someone she knew. Someone from the expedition all those months ago. Her best friend.

“...Raine?”

“Catherine. I’m so sorry.” They tried their best not to look away as Caroline’s face turned rather frustrated. “I knew how hard it would be to tell you… and I didn’t want to tell you like this. But I’m here in this other world now, and I have to make a living.”

Caroline stood up suddenly, leaving her food beside her to turn cold. “I thought you died right then and there in that surge of magic! There were so many people that just vanished from existence!”

“They didn’t die, despite vanishing,” They chuckled scornfully. “They were teleported.”

Caroline just stood there in awe. All her friends, all her family… they were still possibly alive? Her brain couldn’t function properly with all the feelings of sadness and anxiety she felt. “...What?”

Raine smiled weakly at her. “Yes, we were all teleported to this parallel world. As you know, I wasn’t present that day on the expedition because my mother was sick… the people of this land cured her, and I’m forever grateful. I went on to pursue magic like those who had helped her and so many others who were misplaced.” They pause, trying to conjure up the right words to say under Caroline’s intense gaze. “...To tell you the truth, Caroline, I didn’t just ‘find’ the spell. I specifically searched for it so I could see you again.”

“I… I don’t know what to say anymore…” Caroline’s anger faded into sadness as she ran to the mirror and touched it, only feeling the smooth glass. “I just don’t want you to leave, Raine. Not again. You can’t imagine how hard it was without you.”

“Oh, I can imagine,” they said, a smug look returning only for a moment. “You never even smiled, and you always sounded downcast when you talked.” Her fingers curled up at the sound of the sentence, bringing her back to the day she had met the mysterious ‘M’, though she was uncertain where the ‘M’ itself even came from… and she didn’t particularly care at this moment. 

They glanced away from Caroline for a moment as fear shot over their face. She could almost hear the footsteps in the quiet room. “I’m sorry, Caroline, I have to go before they find out.” 

“Wait--!”

“Goodbye, my dear Caroline.”

And the magic appeared and disappeared one last time, leaving Caroline only to look at her pathetic reflection. And, at that very moment, she didn’t care if anyone heard her as she fell to her knees and screamed, tears running down her face and falling to the floor as she looked down at the floorboards.

But nobody came. The store was closed. June was having lunch elsewhere with a friend, she knew. Caroline wanted the affection of her aunt, of Raine even, but knew she wouldn’t have it. So, she cried for a long time until she could cry no longer.

And when her breathing settled, she looked up at herself in the mirror again, her eyes red and her face flushed from the heavy crying and abnormal breathing. But upon looking in the mirror again, she didn’t think of how Raine was gone... but how she was going to see them again... see all of them who vanished on that unfortunate day again. Those people just didn’t belong there, they both knew that. 

And if she had to break a few commands as Raine did, so be it.

She stood up, letting her fingers drag up the smooth glass. Caroline could hardly say goodbye to her best friend, not now that she knew they were alive. So, as she picked up her food and started to head back to the break room, she took one last glance at the mirror and whispered. 

“See you soon, my dear Raine.” 

**Author's Note:**

> \-- Written for an event at the Crystalline Library in Final Fantasy XIV, 4/1/2020 --
> 
> Raine is presented as they/them for the sake of letting the reader choose their gender (or nonbinary, if they see fit).


End file.
